Monday, December 1, 2008

Goths
Circle I Limbo

PETA Members
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

Rednecks
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

Parents who bring squalling brats to R-rated movies
Circle IV Rolling Weights

General asshats
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

George Bush
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

Creationists
Circle VII Burning Sands

Republicans
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

Osama bin Laden
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

Thursday, November 20, 2008





Take the Dark Shadows Character Quiz, hosted by the Dark Shadows Journal Online.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

A Comparison of McCain and Obama

???蓜1793, mvo compare,  Image Hosting

Friday, October 3, 2008

Less practice time

I am still trying to practice but the Remicade leaves me so tired. All I want to do is sleep. Trying not to but practicing when exhausted is difficult. I fear I have made no progress this week. Saturday will tell.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Piano shaped building

A building shaped like a piano. Too cool.

http://spluch.blogspot.com/2007/09/building-shaped-like-piano-and-violin.html

New Music

I wish I could play like this. *Sigh* One day I hope to at least have all of the notes and not the baby music. I can hope for that. Liebestraum by Liszt




Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sarah Palin on Wolf Killing

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Still working...

On all three. These are hard but I will get there. In the Hall of the Mountain King is coming along best. I wonder if it helps or hurts when playing if you already know the melody?

Monday, September 8, 2008

New Music

I am so excited. I nailed the Dvorak piece and now have a bunch of new music to learn. I have 3 and probably won't make it all by the weekend but it will be interesting to try.

From the Bastien book: Careless Love and She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.

By Grieg In The Hall Of The Mountain King. I am really excited about this one even though it is a baby version it has always been one of my favorites.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Still working on scales

I can tell when I am practicing enough. I hear scales in my sleep. I am doing well with the Dvorak piece and plan to have it ready by next Friday. I have an edirol so I plan to upload it here when I think it is good enough. If I get really brave I will have to upload it into one of the recitals on PW. Also I am still annoying my neighbor with my music. She loathes classical music. I want to move.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Dvorak

New World Symphony is coming along nicely. The very last measure is a little difficult but I think I will have it by this weekend. Other new music is Careless Love which introduces 2 new chords that feel very weird. Hopefully I will have this down after Memorial Day.

In other news my daughter who also plays the piano has joined the band and will also play the clarinet. We got her a very nice one. I wonder if I can find any music with a piano clarinet combination? It would be cool to play with her.

With 2 instruments in the house and my fetish for collecting sheet music it may be time to invest in a sheet music cabinet of some sort.

Monday, August 11, 2008

New World Symphony is coming along nicely. The scales are boring me to tears. On a positive note the remicade is really helping the R.A. I can do so much more now.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

New things to learn

I am putting the finishing touches on On Wings of Song.
Beginning Dvorak New World Symphony (Theme from the 2nd Movement).

Starting half steps and whole steps
C major Scale
Scale prep drills
Scale Melody drills

Working on A Little Bit of Rock in the Bastien Book

Monday, July 21, 2008

New Post Finally

I have not ben lazy in posting just more time on the piano than in front of the computer. On the positive side I have finished up On Wings of Song. It needs a bit of polishing but I have it down. Yay for me. My next song will be Dvorak's New World Symphony the slow movement. It is not baby music.:) I am so excited I can hardly stay away from the piano.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Bastien staccato touch Jingle Bells and broken chords.
On Wings of Song last 3 bars.

My neighbor ought to love hearing Jingle Bells in the middle of June.

Why Vote Republican

Saturday, June 7, 2008

side effects are kicking in. Remicade causes major nausea. Wanted to write that down to keep a log of whats going on.

3 bars left

Bastien 15 min
On Wings of Song 60 minutes

I think I finally have those chords beat. The transition is not as smooth as I would like but it is awful close. If I ever nail it I will post it. Maybe I will even be brave and post it on Piano World

In other news i began Remicade yesterday. Not much is happening as far as I can tell. I slept almost all day yesterday, It really took a lot out of me. No adverse side effects and hopefully none show up. I want to be the girl who runs marathons on this stuff. Ok I never ran a marathon before but I want the option open

Monday, June 2, 2008

What a weekend

Practice time

Bastien 45 min
On Wings of Song 15 minutes
scales 0

I really hate scales

This weekend my little girl had her recital. She did fantastic, no worries at all. I however was a nervous wreck. My dad came and so did her grandmother. Her uncle didn't make it cause of the cable guy.

My arthritis is flaring like crazy I can barely type. So I will keep this post short

Ta for now

Friday, May 30, 2008

2 of a kind

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Sore hands

Today I played pretty well for sore hands.

Bastien 40 minutes Michael Row the Boat Ashore and All Through the Night. I remember singing that to my little one when she was a baby. So it is really cool to be able to play it. It goes something like this:

Sleep my child and peace attend thee all through the night. Guardian angels god will send thee all through the night.

On Wings of Song 20 minutes, The chords are getting a bit easier but still not smooth.

I bought Hallelujah for easy piano. They lied. It is not easy. I will have it for when I can play it though. Interesting enough it is the same melody repeated five times. I didn't realize pop songs were so repetitive. Anyway I will bring it to class on Saturday so my teacher can look at it and tell me when she thinks it will be a good time to begin playing it. I am waiting for the Raider's March to come in. I really think it will be easier and that I could play it sooner. Hopefully it will come in tomorrow.

My little one was home sick again. She will be out again Friday because of an allergist appointment. Her face swelled up and the dr. wanted me to take her to the allergist ASAP. At least I can find out where this guy is. I am familiar with the area. My husband is going to La. to get his mother's car and help his brother pack up. So now my in-laws will be within a few blocks of us. On that note I am going to do laundry. Yippee

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Yea

Practice log

Bastien 45 minutes All through the Night and Michale Row the Boat Ashore
Dotted Rhythm notations.

On Wings of Song 35 minutes Chord progressions getting easier but still not smooth. I feel awkward.

I got a call today that the insurance company got off of its butt and approved the Remicade. Maybe now I will get some relief. My left wrist, shoulders and hands really hurt. Thank god my hips and knees are ok. I really need to lose weight. Maybe that will help. as of right now my diet starts. Maybe when the Remicade starts I will be able to ecercise more. Although I understand nausea is a side effect of Remicade. Maybe I won't have that or if I do it will go away soon. I have enough nausea from the methotraxte. (sp) I just found this wonderful site Creaky Joints I think I will join. I would love a support group.

Speaking of doctors my little one now has to have an allergy test. Thankfully it is a blood test and not all of the little needles. She goes Friday. I know more school missed but at least next week is the last week of school. They can't possibly be doing anything important. I hope not anyway. So let's see she was off Monday, missed today and will miss Friday. Oh and she will also miss next Tuesday too. At least the Tuesday appointments are a bit apart. I have an appointment in the afternoon she has one in the morning at the dentist. Mine is the eye doctor. I just had Lasik and cataracts removed. I see great now but still need reading glasses.

Now for the neighbor. At least she did not complain today. *Grin* I heard her radio since eight this am. Wonder if I ought to go complain? Probably not. As much as it kills me I will be the mature adult. I just wish she would play something other than Christian rock. I have now added a genre of music that I don't like. If I play the stereo low I can't hear her. Good thing I usually keep it on. :)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Doctor time

Well my little girl is sick. Darn allergies. She can't go to school and I am hoping she can go tomorrow. She hates t miss. Although the school year is nearly over so I think it is ok now. She hasn't missed much school.

Her being home has thrown off my practice schedule.

10 min Bastien
10 minutes On Wings of Song.

Maybe I can practice more later. Tomorrow she may be home and my Dad is getting new furniture. FOr some reason he wants me there when they deliver so I have to go to his house from 12:30 to 3:30. Problem is my daughter gets home at 3. So I hope the furniture is here soon.

I may write more later writing keeps my mind off of the RA. I am feeling fairly nauseous from the meds. Now I find out that Remicade has nausea as a side effect. It also has other nasty side effects that may show up. I am hoping that they don't. THen again I will not have to worry at all if the doctor does not get approval from the darn insurance. You would think that if the doctor said you needed something than the insurance would pay for it.

I am wondering if I could get more lesson time? It is so nice to have that 30 minutes just for me spent doing something that I like. Probably not cause life in mommyland just doesn't seem to work that way.

Monday, May 26, 2008

wierd facts I found on the web

Just in case you need more proof that we live in a crazy world . . .


In Lebanon, men are legally allowed to have sex with animals, but the animals must be female.
Having sexual relations with a male animal is punishable by death.

(Like THAT makes sense.)

In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a woman's genitals, but is prohibited from looking directly at them during the examination. He may only see their reflection in a mirror.
(Do they look different reversed?)

Muslims are banned from looking at the genitals of a
corpse. This also applies to undertakers. The organs of the deceased must be covered with a brick or piece of wood at all times.

(A brick??)

The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is decapitation.
(...so they'll never know they went blind?)

There are men in Guam whose full-time job is to travel the countryside and deflower young virgins, who pay them for the privilege of having sex for the first time...
Reason: Under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry.

(Let's just think for a minute; is there any job anywhere
else in the world that even comes close to this?)

In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands. The husband's lover, on the other hand, may be killed in any manner desired.
(Now this is justice!)

Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England -
but only in tropical fish stores.

(But of course!)

In Cali, Colombia, a woman may only have sex with her husband, and the first time this happens, her mother
must be in the room to witness the act.

(Makes one shudder at the thought.)

In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, it is illegal for a man to have sex with a woman and her daughter at the same time.
(I presume this was a big enough problem that they had
to pass this law?)

In Maryland, it is illegal to sell condoms from vending
machines with one exception: Prophylactics may be
dispensed from a vending machine only "in places where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises."

(Is this a great country or what? Not as great as Guam!)

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
(Who volunteers for this stuff?)

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
(Is that why Flipper was always smiling?)

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
(Hummm....I won't touch THAT one!)

The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30
times its own weight and always falls over on its right
side when intoxicated.

(From drinking little bottles of...? Wonder how much the the govt.
paid for this relevant bit of research??)

Butterflies taste with their feet.
(Ah, geez)

An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.
(I know some people like that.)

Starfish don't have brains.
(I know some people like that, too

Music Complaints

My neighbor did not take the news that I wanted her garden fixed well. I told her about the letter and all she did was complain about the homeowner's association. What a %^$#*. (My daughter reads this so I have to keep it clean:) )

I am not asking her for a lot of work. I really ought to post a picture if I could then you can see what I am complaining about. *sigh* She is still complaining about the music. Seems she was outside and heard it during her memorial day party. Big whoop. I think I am going to ignore her. I am not doing anything against the rules. I really want to move. This makes me feel bad but I am GOING to play regardless of if she likes it or not. After all she can always move. I guess she doesn't like All through the Night or On the wings of Song the 2 pieces I am currently working on. She can go stuff it.I think I am going to play and GASP it is after five.

More practice

Bastien 45 min
Scales 15 min
On Wings of Song 20 min

I hope you like my new layout. I got it here.
They had some really nice designs and I had a hard time choosing. I am too old and lazy to make my own.

I did good today considering I didn't feel like practicing. Yea me. My little one is going to be sick tomorrow. I can tell cause her allergies are acting up. Last night I thought her face would swell and I was praying we didn't have an ER visit. Thank goodness we didn't. So since she was feeling somewhat better I took her shopping and to lunch. Lunch somehow devolved from a place with real tablecloths to Burger King. Go figure. Anyway to take matters into extreme weird we won a whopper. Now I have to eat there again.

I bought her a pair of gold hoops and some smaller silver ones. A local jewelery store is going out of business so we racked up. Birthday money was never spent so well. I also got her a waterproof watch for swim practice. We got that at WalMart though. Not sure how well it will hold up but if it lasts the season I will be thrilled.

My friend sent me a picture of her piano and it is awesome. I totally love it. Speaking of pianos I am really in a mood to play so I think that is what I will do.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Today is a good day. I am still tired and achy the weather here is playing havoc with my joints but I had a great time yesterday. My daughter' party went off without a hitch and everyone had a good time. She got a ton of presents so she is happy. We also have a lot of goody bags left over so she is happy about that too. Something about crazy straws and bouncy balls made her happy.

We also went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie. It was awesome. I love the theme music something is iconic about it. Which leads me to why I am in a good mood. I found easy piano music for it. I cannot wait to play it. It will be here in about 10 days. I refrained from buying a ton of music I am a sheet music junkie. Pretty bad since I doubt I will play anything I grabbed anytime soon. That is the problem with sheet music downloads for me at least. Few of them are easy piano. Or at least that I have found. I know some people think you should wait until you can play the real thing but I figure I will be dead of old age before that happens. Anyway I saved that site. There is an awesome sheet music store locally but again their easy section seems to cater mostly to kiddie stuff.

Well I will keep this post short it is near dinnertime and I need to cook. Then again I really don't feel like cooking I think we will do take out.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Party Day

Practice for today

30 minutes on Bastien
15 minutes On Wings of Song
0 minutes on scales (bad me)

I so wish I could play Raider's March from Raider's of the Lost Ark

Today is my little girl's birthday party so I have been cleaning and setting up kid games. Most of it will take place outside so I hope the weather is nice. Why in the world I spent over an hour cleaning for a bunch of kids to smear cake and ice cream over everything I don't know. Kids are messy. But my house is clean :) I am so excited for her. I hope all her friends show up and she gets lots of goodies. I got her some really neat stuff I hope she likes.

My husband had a meeting today for swim team and I hope he is back in time. He had better be or I will have a nervous breakdown. I may just have one anyway. Planning parties is not my favorite thing although working with my little girl on setup was fun.

The neighbor who hates hearing piano music is back. They wanted a garden around the electric box thingy on the lawn. We said OK cause it is half on our lawn too. They said they would fix it up cause they had ideas and blah blah blah. Well it has been about 4-5 years and it looks like crap. Let me rephrase it has never looked good, the wood around the plants is all funky and just laying there and was never nice in the first place. We have shut up about it long enough. If the neighborhood association fines me I will be pissed. We already got one letter. So I asked my husband to say something to them to fix it up. I am not chickening out he is much more politic than I am and probably won't say something like "Hey this looks like crap please fix it up like you said you would." I tend not to self censor as much as he does. *sigh*

I also found out yesterday she was not coming to my kid's party. Considering we arranged it on a weekend she said was fine I am really mad. Her kids and my kid are friends and I don't want to say anything to mess that up for my daughter. Life is complicated. I already feel that I am on thin ice with this woman cause of the piano and now all of this. Maybe we could move... Like that will ever happen. Maybe she could move and I could mow down the offending mess. Maybe we could mow it down anyway. *evil grin* I really don't want to start a war. I just want my yard to look nice. We worked really hard on it. Our side looks great. My other neighbor's looks great. Hell the whole street looks great except for them. It is really getting old. I just don't know what to say. I need to be less accomodating. I have accomadated her for years now and nothing has been done about the garden.

This post is getting rambling and I have things to do so I will stop now. O yeah I need to figure out how to add friends on this thing. I feel like a dope.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Wishes

I totally want this awesome piano. That is if money and space were no object.

A chord a day

Weird title I know. But I finally got one of the chords I was having trouble with. It is not terribly smooth but it is there.


Practice time today

45 minutes on Bastien
25 minutes for On Wings of Song (that is the one with the chord problems)
15 minutes on scales (yecch)

I am so annoyed about swim team. We have about 300 parents give or take and can only get 4 to be officials. We need more. No officials no meets. No meets = unhappy children with no team. Everything is voluntary. I promised to do ribbons and my husband promised to do computers cause we have no freakin clue about the proper strokes needed. If I did I would volunteer. At this rate I am holding off buying the tent. No point if we have no meets. And some of these people were here last year so you know they have a clue about the strokes. I hate the 'let somebody else do it' mentality. I wish... Such is life. With the RA I probable couldn't do it anyway.

Still waiting on approval from the insurance people about the Remicade. I wish they would get off of there behinds and approve me. Now that I have psyched Myself up to take it I want to get the stupid thing started.

This post has been awful whiney. I swear I am not whiney. Honest. I am just frustrated. So I will stop complaining and go do something else. After all I just bought an elliptical. I think I will go and use it. One last complaint. The "c" key is acting weird on my computer. Odd how many times you use "c". Hope I don't need a new keyboard.


Thursday, May 22, 2008

Well the R.A. is acting up today. I got in 15 min. and had to stop. I hope that the new medicine will help. I want to play and can hear how it ought to sound but cannot make my fingers work.

15 min of basic work in Bastien's and that was it.

edit I just found out the dr. wants me to take remicade. It is a 2 hour infusion drug that is going to cost me about $100 per month give or take.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Practice Practice

Well today I practiced for an hour and my fingers are killing me. i still am having trouble with the chords in On Wings of Song. I am about half way through it and am not certain I will ever see the end although my teacher has every confidence.

On a more positive note my daughter's recital is coming up next weekend and she is totally ready. You can see her recital from last year here Melissasjourneys! No nerves at all. I wish I could be like that. She is 9 and totally kicks my butt at piano. Of course she has been playing for 2 years longer than me so that is all in her favor.

This is our piano

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Musical Mayhem

This is my first post and I intend that it be about my musical or so attempted musical journeys. I have been playing for approximately 6 months. I am currently working on On Wings of Song and it is driving me nuts. I spent 40 min. on it today and just cannot get the chords. When I do I will post this as a clip. Here is a link to a clip of it. I sound nothing like this. The clips are on the side.

Earlier today my neighbor complained she could hear me in her kitchen. Now our houses aren't that close and as it is my house I feel I ought to be able to play at least during the day when I want. I do not play at night so I fail to see what she is complaining about. She said she would get drums. I said it would be great we could jam together. Not exactly what she wanted to hear I think. Oh well.

Today I practiced for 45 min